Tuesday, December 31, 2013

I was looking through the folders of photos on my computer and came across several events I never got around to blogging back in 2013. I usually throw together a "catch all" post for these types of miscellaneous memories, and just hadn't gotten around to it. Better late than never! Right?

Monday, December 30, 2013

If you know me at all, you are aware that I like to take our home movies (of late, it's usually been sports stuff) and make them into "muvees" (that name referring to the software I use).

But I'm not the ONLY movie maker in the Blackham household anymore! Grayson recently decided to put his new "Go Pro" camera to use, with the RC car he got last Christmas, and then he made his own little movie (using i-movie). Here it is ...

He had so much fun,

he went and grabbed the video and photo files
from his recent Lake Powell trip

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Merry Christmas from the Blackhams! We gave our usual neighbor gift of wrapping paper and I thought the boys looked very festive as they went out to deliver the goods.

We actually had a countdown to Christmas this year ... I bought a couple of inexpensive advent calendars for the two little boys, and a Star Wars Lego one for Keaton. The boys enjoyed opening up on little door each day.

The Sunday before Christmas, we had a gathering up at Maga's house with some old friends, the Rowe's. The Blackham clan used to meet with them every year, but it had been about 20 years since everyone had gotten together. It was a fun reunion.

There was a re-creation of a whipped cream fight, which had happened some 20 years ago. Having the kids dress up and perform the nativity was another tradition brought back to the forefront. We ate soups, played bingo and "Candy Bar Game" (Gray was the $50 winner).

Christmas Eve was spent at Grandma's house (the Westra side). We had soups here too, and I made both my chicken noodle and the chicken and wild rice that is so popular on the Blackham side. I made my bread sticks too. We played the Westra version of the "Candy Bar Game", watched the annual slideshow, exchanged gifts and received our annual family calendar.

We actually slept in Christmas morning. I thought it was a rather slim Christmas (my being sick for an entire week just before didn't help with the shopping) but the boys seemed content with their gifts. Landon got some giftcards (Old Navy, Jiffylube and Itunes) and "Sand". Callahan ... he's a kid who is more than happy to get socks for Christmas! He also received NBA2K14 for the Xbox. Keaton also got some socks, some shirts and some Star Wars stuff. Cooper got a new basketball, a jersey and lots of Legos. Colton got a variety of toys and treats (his own pack of Golden Oreos). I was pretty spoiled with quite a few gifts from Gray and the boys ... I failed miserably, not getting much of anything for Gray. He said the waverunners were his gift from me *Ü*

We had decorated the house (more text/pictures on that at It's That Time of Year) and picked up a new tree. The one we had for previous years had died. I love seeing the kids grab the ornaments that they made themselves over the years ... often graced with pictures of them when they were little. They are the favorites.

We headed up to Maga's house, where we were able to chat with Sister Blackham (Olivia) over skype and on the phone. Grayson had picked up new nutcracker for Maga's collection ... Keaton was a little loathe to part with it.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Colton is EIGHT years old (Dec20)! I can't believe it, he's my baby and he'll always be my baby. It was the last day of school before the holiday break. They were having a small Christmas party, and Colton brought his favorite candy bar (Kit Kat) to share for his birthday treat. I picked up an Oreo Ice Cream Cake and we had that in the evening. Poor Colton, his birthday does tend to get a bit lost in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, but he's such a good sport and never complains at all.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

I'm a bit behind ... Blackham Basketball has been busy! The boys finished up their Fall seasons and are now moving onto Winter. I've been trying to keep up with games/videos on the Hoop Dreams blog, you can check it out for links to all the games info and highlight videos. Here's Callahan's final Fall game ...

So, what are the Blackham Boys doing in Basketball now?

Landon is NOT reffing this year (he said no way he was done!). Selfishly I'm ok with it, as this makes him available if I need him to run one of the boys to a game. With multiple games on Saturdays, we do have some scheduling conflicts!

Callahan, currently in 9th grade, tried out for the sophomore team at the high school and made it all the way to the final cut. I was ok with that ... high school ball will come soon enough. He's playing on the West Hills 9th grade team on both Thursdays and Saturdays.

Keaton is on the second 7th team. Fall season was a bit hard, with many close, clutch games the boys couldn't quite pull out. They've managed some wins here in Winter, but it's been a challenge. They are a tiny team (only six players, and small in stature too). One game I couldn't attend, Grayson texted me "the other team definitely has the height advantage" to which I texted back "pretty much ANY other team has the height advantage!".

Cooper's team got beat in their final Fall game, disrupting their undefeated season. It was a tough game but they handled it well. He's now playing Junior Jazz with four of the kids from his Fall team and some new additions. They are playing in the more competitive "team" division, and it can be a challenge as only half the team is actually 4th graders.

Colton is playing Junior Jazz too, with his buddies Randon and Garren. Their games are at Gene Fullmer, so Mommy has to decide whether to video the games, or jog the track ... I did get footage of one game so far. So this video is short and sweet. Hopefully I'll get some additional footage ... and get a little better focus too!

Friday, December 6, 2013

School has been in session for a while now ... I think the switch to Terra Linda has been a really good move. I know it is for me! The dreaded "off-track" time came and went and our schedule stayed the same. I'm looking forward to the Christmas break (when the year-round schools don't have have as much down time). It's just been so nice to be able to keep our routine. The boys have adjusted and like their teachers and have many new friends. We had their Parent/Teacher conferences a bit ago and they both received rave reviews.

Cooper was recently nominated for a "Principal's Pride" award.

I've been driving the kids to/from school every day. We do actually have a friend in the neighborhood who also transferred to Terra Linda and who was perfectly willing to help with carpool, but to help Cooper with the transition and to ease his anxieties (he hates to be late, or to wait) I told him I would take and pick up each day. I bought the boys some "Terra Linda" t-shirts and a jacket for Cooper ... they are Terra Linda Tigers now!

We had conferences at the middle school too ... both boys are doing great in their classes and both received a 4.0 this first quarter, plus additional awards (Honor Roll, 7-Up club for perfect citizenship, perfect attendance). I drive them to school, and most days Landon picks them up on his way home.

Now I didn't get a school picture of Landon! We never seemed to get the picture information, and so he didn't have a form or money on the day they were taken. We need to get some "senior" portraits done too. Landon is taking early morning seminary, and filled his schedule with pretty tough classes. I can NOT believe he is going to graduate this year!

Our Family

Grayson, Jen, Landon, Callahan, Keaton, Cooper and Colton

Welcome to the Blackham Blog ... I'm always a little slow jumping in on the latest trends. While some people have been blogging for years, I just started in 2010 (although I have been backdating some posts). This makes me feel less guilty about not scrapbooking, sharing our pictures/posts with family and friends.

Daily Doings and Weekly Reports

Family & Friend Blog Logs

I was never one to follow people's blogs ... until I started my own. I know you can officially "follow" people, but I've found that the easiest way for me to keep up with others is to list them here ... those updated the most recently move to the top. Thank you all for your inspiration *Ü*

Alt Codes

Ok - I often want to add some symbols (like "cents" or "degrees") and I can NEVER remember what they are or where I found them ... so I'm putting my favorites HERE for reference! Just hit the "ALT" key and then the #'s to create these symbols ...

Book Quotes

I read book 2 and 3 back to back, and feel like they were just one long story. The first installment was it's own story. I almost felt like the first couple chapters of book 2 could have been included in the first book. It picks up right...

I remember REALLY liking book one of this series. I knew it was going to be a trilogy, but figured I'd wait until I could read the final two back to back. So ... it has been a while since I read the first book. I remembered the basic sto...

I'm not sure what caught my eye, causing me to pick up this book. Although as an adult I often read YA, this seemed aimed at an even younger audience (with the main character being in 6th grade). Although there is a slight mystical/myste...

Ah ... the conclusion, and this was a definite conclusion. Like a few other series (Harry Potter, Frost Chronicles) the very end does wrap up years and years, showing us the full lives of these characters we've come to know.
This book d...

It was nice to pick this up and continue on with the story immediately after finishing book four. Another continuation of the story, a little more of a cliff-hanger ending then the others, but the first few chapters of Book6 were there a...

I started 2014 reading the first three books in this series, and finished the year reading the last three. I did a combo review of the first three books and I'm having a hard time thinking of reviewing the final three separately (I have ...

When I read book one, I didn't love it, but was intrigued enough to continue on and find out what happened here in book two. I liked this book better than the first. I'm not sure if that was simply because I'd already been introduced to ...

The conclusion to this series. I enjoyed the book, I enjoyed the series! I'd known this final one was out and I went ahead and bought it (and then it appeared at my library the next day, I could have saved a bit of $$ if I'd waited) ... ...

2.5 stars. I liked the first book, enough to give this second in the series a try. But ... I think I was a little burned out on the story even as I started. I had to force myself to finish. All the time travel, changes, jumping around wa...

I THINK I liked this better than the first book. Maybe already having the scene set and the characters established ... or the glimpse into how this world came about and other twists were just a bit more interesting than book 1. Still a s...

2.5 stars. I do really enjoy the dystopian trend ... this book just didn't really grab me. The romance wasn't really there, no build up, no believability. So many things just seemed to happen without any real meaning or reason behind the...

I really need to review my books before they go back to the library! I remember liking this book fine. I do really like the dystopian stuff, but although the setting was promising, it just didn't really deliver. It just didn't make that ...

My 5th grader was reading this in school, and I downloaded a digital copy from the library to read along with him, to be able to discuss the developments. I'd read it before years and years ago, and remembered the basics.
It was interes...

3.5 stars. I'd heard a lot of good things about this book, and as I picked it up and started reading, I really enjoyed it. It was cute, light, the writing was fun and would make me smile. About half way through the book though, it got a ...

2.5 stars ... it was okay. There were a few things that simply drove me cRazy as I read this book!
I'm a little more into the supernatural/fantasy/sciencefiction/dystopian stuff. When it's already so "out there" I think I'm much more wi...

I like coming into a complete series, where I can read the books back to back if I wish. Sometimes I still don't ... I want a break between books. But here, I did continue reading. It was just an interesting concept, and each book had it...

I'm not in love with this series, but it is interesting. While book one still left things a bit open-ended, it did have a conclusion and I wondered a bit how the story would continue. This did pick up in the days after book 1 ended, and ...

Jessica Day ... it was a little weird how often the character was referred to by her full name throughout the book. It almost always felt off to me.
The storyline was interesting. There were little images included at the end of each ch...

This book had a very interesting premise. Only one night has passed for sixteen-year-old Kyra, but five years have gone by for everyone else. She has been missing, but she hasn't aged, she is still the same ... or is she?
The writing wa...

3.5 stars. I did like this book. Time travel always boggles my mind a bit. Even with the complexities of that, at times the book felt a tad simplistic, aimed at a younger audience than the main character (around 16 years old).
It's bee...